[MUD-Dev] GM Touring Company

[Marian Griffith]

In <URL:/archives/meow?group+local.muddev> on Thu 15 Jul, Ling wrote:
> On Tue, 13 Jul 1999, Matthew Mihaly wrote:
> > On Tue, 13 Jul 1999, Ling wrote:

> > > What would you think a group of GM's (in the P&P sense) going around to
> > > different muds running scenarios?

> > Well, speaking as a commercial admin, there's not a chance in hell we'd
> > let, much less pay, for anyone to do this. That's not a slight on you or
> > your company either. It's simply that you can't just come in for a couple
> > weeks and carry out a scenario. You've got to have an intimate
> > understanding of the subtleties of a world's political climate, its
> > history, etc. I can't speak for stockmuds, and I don't really know how
> > similar they are to each other in those terms, so maybe it work work in
> > them, though I don't see you making a profit out of stock muds.

> Having had a dalliance with commercial muds, I understand.  I had in mind
> free muds with a strong rp element.  There are plenty of good FtF GMs but
> the skills that make those GMs aren't really used to full effect in most
> muds.  (I admit to being biased towards combat based muds)

I think that commercial games would benefit more from such a scheme  than
would free games. The problem is not so much understanding the atmosphere
of a game  (which would be essential for such company to be successfull),
but allowing somebody else to play in your sandbox.
Commercial games must provide a much higher standard of entertainment  to
be successfull than free games,  unless they accept a high degree of ero-
sion in their player base.  Professional GM's and crews  may become a way
to draw and bind players to a game.

> I don't see why not, later on, commercial muds won't start asking such a
> company to play on their grounds.  I imagine damn good professional people
> in the company, not a bunch of kids messing around.  The only contemporary
> example I can think of right now are club DJs that go around doing sets. 

There is a time-honoured example already.  The theatre troupe touring the
country  performing a play in different theatres.  It does not have to be
theatre either, any performance artist will do.  There are several groups
that do a festival tour, some with very, very, elaborate acts. Some, like
e.g. the dog-troep in the netherlands,  tailor their acts to the location
and can spend many months  in preparation for a show that will be perfor-
med only three or four times.

> Okay, they spend five minutes, not a few weeks absorbing the atmosphere
> before they stick a record on but you get the idea.  You never know, you
> might get fans that follw this company from mud to mud.  This is just talk
> tho.

The critical difficulty that I see, apart from getting enough momentum to
get the show on the road, is that muds are much swifter and fleeting than
any other medium. A story-teller or campaign needs to be orchestrated for
many days but the very medium of the game makes that diffucult.  Consider
the difficulty of running a life RP campaign with maybe hundreds of play-
ers most of which are dropping out at unexpected moments.
On the other hand,  I can see the opportunities too.  How about carefully
staging,  say,  Romeo and Juliet.  Starting with creating the two warring
factions and gradually building up to the 'betrayal' and the dramatic fi-
nale. That would be a project that is out of scope for most all mud staff
but would be very interesting for the players.  Even if they never figure
out just what play they have gotten themselves in ;)

> Now, who's willing to get it started? :)

*grin* You know the saying: It is your party ;)

Marian
--
Yes - at last - You. I Choose you. Out of all the world,
out of all the seeking, I have found you, young sister of
my heart! You are mine and I am yours - and never again
will there be loneliness ...

Rolan Choosing Talia,
Arrows of the Queen, by Mercedes Lackey




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